1.
Rapid transit
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Rapid transit, also known as heavy rail, metro, subway, tube, or underground, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. The stations typically have high platforms, without steps inside the trains and they are typically integrated with other public transport and often operated by the same public transport authorities. However, some transit systems have at-grade intersections between a rapid transit line and a road or between two rapid transit lines. It is unchallenged in its ability to transport large numbers of people quickly over short distances with little use of land, variations of rapid transit include people movers, small-scale light metro, and the commuter rail hybrid S-Bahn. The worlds first rapid-transit system was the partially underground Metropolitan Railway which opened as a railway in 1863. In 1868, New York opened the elevated West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, china has the largest number of rapid transit systems in the world. The worlds longest single-operator rapid transit system by length is the Shanghai Metro. The worlds largest single rapid transit service provider by both length of revenue track (665 miles and number of stations is the New York City Subway. The busiest rapid transit systems in the world by annual ridership are the Tokyo subway system, the Seoul Metropolitan Subway, the Moscow Metro, the Beijing Subway, Metro is the most common term for underground rapid transit systems used by non-native English speakers. One of these terms may apply to a system, even if a large part of the network runs at ground level. In Scotland, however, the Glasgow Subway underground rapid transit system is known as the Subway, in the US, underground mass transit systems are primarily known as subways, whereas the term metro is a shortened reference to a metropolitan area. In that vein, Chicagos commuter rail system, serving the area, is called Metra. Exceptions in naming rapid transit systems are Washington DCs subway system the Washington Metro, Los Angeles Metro Rail, and the Miami Metrorail, the opening of Londons steam-hauled Metropolitan Railway in 1863 marked the beginning of rapid transit. Initial experiences with steam engines, despite ventilation, were unpleasant, experiments with pneumatic railways failed in their extended adoption by cities. Electric traction was more efficient, faster and cleaner than steam, in 1890 the City & South London Railway was the first electric-traction rapid transit railway, which was also fully underground. Both railways were merged into London Underground. The 1893 Liverpool Overhead Railway was designed to use electric traction from the outset, budapest in Hungary and Glasgow, Chicago and New York all converted or purpose-designed and built electric rail services. Advancements in technology have allowed new automated services, hybrid solutions have also evolved, such as tram-train and premetro, which incorporate some of the features of rapid transit systems
2.
New World
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The New World is one of the names used for the Earths Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas. The term was coined by Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci, the Americas were also referred to as the fourth part of the world. New World are meaningful in historical context and for the purpose of distinguishing the worlds major ecozones, and to classify plant and animal species that originated therein. One can speak of the New World in a context, e. g. when discussing the voyages of Christopher Columbus. For lack of alternatives, the term is still useful to those discussing issues that concern the Americas. The term New World is used in a context, when one speaks of Old World. Biological taxonomists often attach the New World label to groups of species that are exclusively in the Americas, to distinguish them from their counterparts in the Old World. New World monkeys, New World vultures, New World warblers, the label is also often used in agriculture. Common Old World crops, and domesticated animals did not exist in the Americas until they were introduced by contact in the 1490s. Other famous New World crops include the cashew, cocoa, rubber, sunflower, tobacco, and vanilla, there are rare instances of overlap, e. g. In wine terminology, New World has a different definition, Vespucci was finally convinced when he proceeded on his mapping expedition through 1501-02, covering the huge stretch of coast of eastern Brazil. But this opinion is false, and entirely opposed to the truth, Vespuccis letter was a publishing sensation in Europe, immediately reprinted in several other countries. The Venetian explorer Alvise Cadamosto had used the term un altro mundo to refer to sub-Saharan Africa, however, this was merely a literary flourish, not a suggestion of a new fourth part of the world. Cadamosto was quite aware sub-Saharan Africa was firmly part of the African continent, the Italian-born Spanish chronicler Peter Martyr dAnghiera often shares credit with Vespucci for designating the Americas as a new world. Peter Martyr used the term Orbe Novo in the title of his history of the discovery of the Americas as a whole, a year later, Peter Martyr again refers to the marvels of the New Globe and the Western hemisphere. Christopher Columbus touched the continent of South America in his 1498 third voyage, in another letter, Columbus refers to having reached a new heavens and world and that he had placed another world under the dominion of the Kings of Spain. The Vespucci passage above applied the New World label to merely the continental landmass of South America, although the proceedings of the Toro-Burgos conferences are missing, it is almost certain that Vespucci articulated his recent New World thesis to his fellow navigators there. In English usage the term New World was problematic and only accepted relatively late, while it became generally accepted after Vespucci that Columbuss discoveries were not Asia but a New World, the geographic relationship between the two continents was still unclear
3.
Madrid
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Madrid is the capital city of the Kingdom of Spain and the largest municipality in both the Community of Madrid and Spain as a whole. The city has a population of almost 3.2 million with an area population of approximately 6.5 million. It is the third-largest city in the European Union after London and Berlin, the municipality itself covers an area of 604.3 km2. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid, this community is bordered by the communities of Castile and León. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political, economic, the current mayor is Manuela Carmena from Ahora Madrid. Madrid is home to two football clubs, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid. Madrid is the 17th most liveable city in the according to Monocle magazine. Madrid organises fairs such as FITUR, ARCO, SIMO TCI, while Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets. Cibeles Palace and Fountain have become one of the monument symbols of the city, the first documented reference of the city originates in Andalusan times as the Arabic مجريط Majrīṭ, which was retained in Medieval Spanish as Magerit. A wider number of theories have been formulated on possible earlier origins, according to legend, Madrid was founded by Ocno Bianor and was named Metragirta or Mantua Carpetana. The most ancient recorded name of the city Magerit comes from the name of a built on the Manzanares River in the 9th century AD. Nevertheless, it is speculated that the origin of the current name of the city comes from the 2nd century BC. The Roman Empire established a settlement on the banks of the Manzanares river, the name of this first village was Matrice. In the 8th century, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula saw the changed to Mayrit, from the Arabic term ميرا Mayra. The modern Madrid evolved from the Mozarabic Matrit, which is still in the Madrilenian gentilic, after the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Madrid was integrated in the Taifa of Toledo. With the surrender of Toledo to Alfonso VI of León and Castile, the city was conquered by Christians in 1085, Christians replaced Muslims in the occupation of the centre of the city, while Muslims and Jews settled in the suburbs. The city was thriving and was given the title of Villa, since 1188, Madrid won the right to be a city with representation in the courts of Castile. In 1202, King Alfonso VIII of Castile gave Madrid its first charter to regulate the municipal council, which was expanded in 1222 by Ferdinand III of Castile
4.
Autonomous communities of Spain
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Spain is not a federation, but a highly decentralized unitary state. Some scholars have referred to the system as a federal system in all. There are 17 autonomous communities and two cities that are collectively known as autonomies. The two autonomous cities have the right to become autonomous communities, but neither has yet used this right and this unique framework of territorial administration is known as the State of Autonomies. The autonomous communities are governed according to the constitution and their own organic laws known as Statutes of Autonomy, since devolution was intended to be asymmetrical in nature, the scope of competences vary for each community, but all have the same parliamentary structure. Spain is a country made up of different regions with varying economic and social structures, as well as different languages. While the entire Spanish territory was united under one crown by the 16th century, the constituent territories—be it crowns, kingdoms, principalities or dominions—retained much of their former institutional existence, including limited legislative, judicial or fiscal autonomy. These territories also exhibited a variety of customs, laws. From the 18th century onwards, the Bourbon kings and the government tried to establish a more centralized regime, leading figures of the Spanish Enlightenment advocated for the building of a Spanish nation beyond the internal territorial boundaries. This culminated in 1833, when Spain was divided into 49 provinces and these were the Basque Country and Catalonia. This gave rise to peripheral nationalisms along with Spanish nationalism, therefore, economic and social changes that had produced a national cultural unification in France had the opposite effect in Spain. In a response to Catalan demands, limited autonomy was granted to Catalonia in 1913 and it was granted again in 1932 during the Second Spanish Republic, when the Generalitat, Catalonias mediaeval institution of government, was restored. During General Francos dictatorial regime, centralism was most forcefully enforced as a way of preserving the unity of the Spanish nation, peripheral nationalism, along with communism and atheism were regarded by his regime as the main threats. When Franco died in 1975, Spain entered into a phase of transition towards democracy, the then Prime Minister of Spain, Adolfo Suárez, met with Josep Tarradellas, president of the Generalitat of Catalonia in exile. An agreement was made so that the Generalitat would be restored and limited competencies would be transferred while the constitution was still being written. In the end, the constitution, published and ratified in 1979, found a balance in recognizing the existence of nationalities and regions in Spain, within the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation. The starting point in the organization of Spain was the second article of the constitution. In order to exercise this right, the established a open process whereby the nationalities
5.
Broad-gauge railway
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Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the 1,435 mm standard gauge. In Britain the Great Western Railway, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, pioneered broad gauge in 1838 with a gauge of 7 ft 1⁄4 in, some harbours also used railways of this gauge for construction and maintenance. These included Portland Harbour and Holyhead Breakwater, which used a locomotive for working sidings, as it was not connected to the national network, this broad-gauge operation continued until the locomotive wore out in 1913. The gauge initially proposed by Brunel was 7 ft exactly but this was increased by 1⁄4 in to accommodate clearance problems identified during early testing. It became apparent that standardization on a gauge throughout a rail transport system was advantageous. Rolling stock did not need to match the gauge exactly, a difference of a few millimetres could be coped with, the value of interoperability was initially not obvious to the industry. The standardization movement was gradual, over time the value of a proprietary gauge diminished, being replaced by the idea of charging money for equipment used on other railway lines. Ireland, using the criteria, was allocated a different standard gauge. Broad-gauge lines in Britain were gradually converted to dual gauge or standard gauge from 1864, Ireland and some states in Australia and Brazil have a gauge of 5 ft 3 in, but Luas, the Dublin light rail system, is built to standard gauge. Russia and the other former Soviet Republics use a 1,520 mm gauge while Finland continues to use the 5 ft gauge inherited from Imperial Russia, in 1839 the Netherlands started its railway system with two broad-gauge railways. But the neighbouring countries Prussia and Belgium already used standard gauge, in 1855, NRS regauged its line and shortly afterwards connected to the Prussian railways. There are replicas of one broad-gauge 2-2-2 locomotive and three carriages in the Dutch Railway Museum in Utrecht and these replicas were built for the 100th anniversary of the Dutch Railways in 1938–39. Portugal and the Spanish Renfe system use a gauge of 1,668 mm called Ancho Ibérico in Spanish or Bitola Ibérica in Portuguese, in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, a gauge of 5 ft 6 in is widespread. This is also used by the Bay Area Rapid Transit system of the San Francisco Bay Area. In Toronto, Canada the gauge for TTC subways and streetcars was chosen in 1861, years after the establishment of gauge in Britain. In 1861, the province was supplying subsidies only to broad gauge railways. The use of a non-standard gauge precludes interoperability of rolling stock on railway networks. On the 5 ft 3 in and 5 ft 6 in gauges, the extra width allowed bigger inside cylinders and greater power, in the event, the most powerful engines on standard gauge in North America and Scandinavia far exceeded the power of any broad-gauge locomotive
6.
High-speed rail
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High-speed rail is a type of rail transport that operates significantly faster than traditional rail traffic, using an integrated system of specialized rolling stock and dedicated tracks. The first such system began operations in Japan in 1964 and was known as the bullet train. High-speed trains normally operate on standard gauge tracks of continuously welded rail on grade-separated right-of-way that incorporates a large turning radius in its design, only in Europe does HSR cross international borders. China has 22,000 kilometres of HSR as of end December 2016, while high-speed rail is most often designed for passenger travel, some high-speed systems also offer freight service. Multiple definitions for high-speed rail are in use worldwide, the European Union Directive 96/48/EC, Annex 1 defines high-speed rail in terms of, Infrastructure, track built specially for high-speed travel or specially upgraded for high-speed travel. Minimum Speed Limit, Minimum speed of 250 km/h on lines built for high speed. This must apply to at least one section of the line, Rolling stock must be able to reach a speed of at least 200 km/h to be considered high speed. Operating conditions, Rolling stock must be designed alongside its infrastructure for complete compatibility, safety and quality of service, category II – Existing tracks specially upgraded for high speeds, allowing a maximum running speed of at least 200 km/h. Category III – Existing tracks specially upgraded for high speeds, allowing a maximum running speed of at least 200 km/h, the UIC prefers to use definitions because they consider that there is no single standard definition of high-speed rail, nor even standard usage of the terms. They make use of the European EC Directive 96/48, stating that high speed is a combination of all the elements which constitute the system, infrastructure, rolling stock and operating conditions. The International Union of Railways states that high-speed rail is a set of unique features, many conventionally hauled trains are able to reach 200 km/h in commercial service but are not considered to be high-speed trains. These include the French SNCF Intercités and German DB IC, National domestic standards may vary from the international ones. Railways were the first form of land transportation and had an effective monopoly on passenger traffic until the development of the motor car. Speed had always been an important factor for railroads and they tried to achieve higher speeds. The line used three-phase current at 10 kilovolts and 45 Hz, on 23 October 1903, the S&H-equipped railcar achieved a speed of 206.7 km/h and on 27 October the AEG-equipped railcar achieved 210.2 km/h. These trains demonstrated the feasibility of electric high-speed rail, however, after the breakthrough of electric railroads, it was clearly the infrastructure – especially the cost of it – which hampered the introduction of high-speed rail. Several disasters happened – derailments, head-on collisions on single-track lines, collisions with traffic at grade crossings. The physical laws were well-known, i. e. if the speed was doubled, the radius should be quadrupled
7.
Lisbon
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Lisbon is the capital and the largest city of Portugal, with a population of 552,700 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km². Its urban area extends beyond the administrative limits with a population of around 2.7 million people. About 2.8 million people live in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and it is continental Europes westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. Lisbon lies in the western Iberian Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean, the westernmost areas of its metro area is the westernmost point of Continental Europe. Lisbon is recognised as a city because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, education. It is one of the economic centres on the continent, with a growing financial sector. Humberto Delgado Airport serves over 20 million passengers annually, as of 2015, and the motorway network, the city is the 7th-most-visited city in Southern Europe, after Istanbul, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Athens and Milan, with 1,740,000 tourists in 2009. The Lisbon region contributes with a higher GDP PPP per capita than any region in Portugal. Its GDP amounts to 96.3 billion USD and thus $32,434 per capita, the city occupies 32nd place of highest gross earnings in the world. Most of the headquarters of multinationals in the country are located in the Lisbon area and it is also the political centre of the country, as its seat of Government and residence of the Head of State. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia, adding to the name Olissipo. Ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century, in 1147, the Crusaders under Afonso Henriques reconquered the city and since then it has been a major political, economic and cultural centre of Portugal. Unlike most capital cities, Lisbons status as the capital of Portugal has never been granted or confirmed officially – by statute or in written form. Its position as the capital has formed through constitutional convention, making its position as de facto capital a part of the Constitution of Portugal. It has one of the warmest winters of any metropolis in Europe, the typical summer season lasts about four months, from June to September, although also in April temperatures sometimes reach around 25 °C. Although modern archaeological excavations show a Phoenician presence at this location since 1200 BC, another conjecture based on ancient hydronymy suggests that the name of the settlement derived from the pre-Roman appellation for the Tagus, Lisso or Lucio. Lisbons name was written Ulyssippo in Latin by the geographer Pomponius Mela and it was later referred to as Olisippo by Pliny the Elder and by the Greeks as Olissipo or Olissipona. The Indo-European Celts invaded in the 1st millennium BC, mixing with the Pre-Indo-European population and this indigenous settlement maintained commercial relations with the Phoenicians, which would account for the recent findings of Phoenician pottery and other material objects
8.
Rail transport in Spain
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Rail transport in Spain operates on four rail gauges and services are operated by a variety of private and public operators. The total route length in 2012 was 16,026 km, most railways are operated by Renfe Operadora, metre and narrow-gauge lines are operated by FEVE and other carriers in individual autonomous communities. Spain is a member of the International Union of Railways, the UIC Country Code for Spain is 71. The first railway line in the Iberian Peninsula was built in 1848 between Barcelona and Mataró, in 1851 the Madrid-Aranjuez line was opened. In 1852 the first narrow gauge line was built, in 1863 a line reached the Portuguese border, by 1864 the Madrid-Irun line had been opened, and the French border reached. In 1900 the first line to be electrified was the La Poveda-Madrid, the current plans of the Spanish government plans to link all the provincial capitals with high-speed rail, with a total estimated length of over 9000 km of high-speed railways for 2020. Both were formed from the break-up of the national carrier RENFE. FEVE is another state-owned Spanish railway company, which operates most of Spains 1,250 km of narrow gauge rail, euskoTren operates trains on part of the narrow gauge railway network in the Basque Country. FGC operates several unconnected lines in Catalonia and it operates 140 km of narrow gauge,42 km of standard gauge, and 89 km of Iberian gauge routes, two metre gauge rack railways and four funicular railways. FGV operates several metre gauge lines in the Valencian Community, FS operates an electrified 914 mm narrow gauge railway on the Spanish island of Majorca between the towns of Palma and Sóller. SFM operates the 1,000 mm metre gauge network on the Spanish island of Majorca. Acciona Rail Services, a subsidiary of Acciona, operates a cargo line between Asturias and the province of León. COMSA Rail Transport, a subsidiary of COMSA, operates a line from the Port of Gijón to Valladolid. Continental Rail is dedicated to bringing materials into the gorges of the lines in progress. Alicante Barcelona Bilbao A Coruña under construction, jaén finished without service by political reason. Madrid Málaga Murcia opened in 2007, Palma Parla Santa Cruz de Tenerife opened in 2007. Seville Valencia Vélez-Málaga Tram Vigo under construction, morocco – no access to mainland Closest station to Melilla - Beni Ansar Closest station to Ceuta - Tangier-Med station Andorra has no rail system. In 2004, the Spanish government adopted a new plan for transportation through 2020 called the PEIT
9.
History of rail transport in Spain
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By 1864 the Madrid-Irun line had been opened, and the French border reached. In 1911 the first line to be electrified was the Gergal-Santa Fe line In 1941 RENFE was created, Railway transport was first developed in Northern Europe during the 19th century, spurred not only by rapid economic growth, but also by landscapes favourable to railway construction. Economic difficulties and the presence of some of the most mountainous terrain in Europe ensured that railways arrived relatively late in Spain. The first line to be built in the Peninsula was a link from Barcelona to Mataró opened in 1848. It was not until laws were passed in the 1850s making railway investment more attractive to foreign capital, that railway building on a large scale began. One major misfortune was the decision, taken at an early stage, other sources state that that decision was taken to allow bigger engines that could have enough power to climb the steep passes in the second most mountainous country in Europe. As a result, Portuguese railways were built to a broad gauge. In 1955 Spain and Portugal decided to halve this difference of 8 mm, the decision for a national gauge came to be regretted by later generations, when international trade became more relevant, and it also made railway construction more expensive. The main-line network was complete by the 1870s. Because of Spains relative lack of development, the Spanish railway network never became as extensive as those of most other European countries. For instance, in terms of land area Spain is about 2.5 times the size of Great Britain, during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s the railway network was extensively damaged. Immediately after the war the Franco regime nationalized the broad gauge network, narrow gauge lines were nationalized in the 1950s, later being grouped to form FEVE. It took many years for the system to recover from the war. In spite of this, innovators like Goicoechea created advanced trains like the Talgo, only with the ending of the Franco regime in 1975, and Spains emergence from international isolation, did the Spanish railway network begin to modernize and catch up with the rest of Europe. Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao all have metro services. In 1986/7, many routes were closed, thousands of kilometres of passenger lines were axed. The Railway Sector Act of 2003 separated the management, maintenance, Spanish railways have been a target of sabotage and attacks by ETA, and once in March 11,2004 Madrid attacks. In recent years Spains railways have received heavy investment, much of it coming from the European Union
10.
Iberian gauge
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Iberian gauge is the name given to the track gauge most extensively used by the railways of Spain and Portugal,1,668 mm. This is the second-widest gauge in use anywhere in the world. The main railway networks of Spain were initially constructed to a 1,672 mm gauge of six Castilian feet. Those of Portugal were instead built to a 1,435 mm and this is possible, but the 19 January 1845 governmental decree does not state any reason, simply the gauge itself. This was obviously a miscalculation, in areas of Spain, narrower gauges were used in the most mountainous areas. One example of this is the 1,000 mm gauge FEVE, indian gauge is closely similar, with only 8mm difference, and allow compatibility with the rolling stock. For example, Chile and Argentina buy second hand Spanish/Portugal Iberian-gauge rolling stock, History of rail transport in Portugal History of rail transport in Spain Rail transport in Portugal Rail transport in Spain
11.
Standard gauge
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The standard gauge is a widely used railway track gauge. Approximately 55% of the lines in the world are this gauge, all high-speed rail lines, except those in Russia, Uzbekistan, and Finland, are standard gauge. The distance between the edges of the rails is defined to be 1435 mm except in the United States. It is also called the UIC gauge or UIC track gauge, as railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge to be used. The result was the adoption throughout a large part of the world of a gauge of 1435 mm. In North East England, some lines in colliery areas were 4 ft 8 in. All these lines had been widened to standard gauge by 1846, parts of the United States, mainly in the Northeast, adopted the same gauge, because some early trains were purchased from Britain. However, until well into the half of the 19th century, Britain. The American gauges converged as the advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent, notably, all the 5 ft broad gauge track in the South was converted to standard gauge over the course of two days beginning on 31 May 1886. See Track gauge in the United States, snopes categorized this legend as false, but commented that. It is perhaps more fairly labelled as True, but for trivial, the historical tendency to place the wheels of horse-drawn vehicles approximately 5 feet apart probably derives from the width needed to fit a carthorse in between the shafts. Others were 4 ft 4 in or 4 ft 7 1⁄2 in, the English railway pioneer George Stephenson spent much of his early engineering career working for the coal mines of County Durham. He favoured 4 ft 8 in for wagonways in Northumberland and Durham, the Hetton and Springwell wagonways also used this gauge. Stephensons Stockton and Darlington railway was primarily to transport coal from mines near Shildon to the port at Stockton-on-Tees. The initial gauge of 4 ft 8 in was set to accommodate the existing gauge of hundreds of horse-drawn chaldron wagons that were already in use on the wagonways in the mines. The railway used this gauge for 15 years before a change was made to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in gauge, George Stephenson used the 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in gauge for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, authorised in 1826 and opened 30 September 1830. The success of this led to Stephenson and his son Robert being employed to engineer several other larger railway projects. Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway, authorised 1824 and opened 1825, used 4 ft 6 in, Dundee and Newtyle Railway, authorised 1829 and opened 1831, used 4 ft 6 1⁄2 in
12.
25 kV AC railway electrification
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25 kV alternating current electrification is commonly used in railway electrification systems worldwide, especially for high-speed rail. This electrification is ideal for railways that cover long distances or carry heavy traffic, after some experimentation before World War II in Hungary and in the Black Forest in Germany, it came into widespread use in the 1950s. Railways using older, lower-capacity direct current systems have introduced or are introducing 25 kV AC instead of 3 kV DC/1.5 kV DC for their new high-speed lines. The first successful operational and regular use of the 50 Hz system dates back to 1931 and it was developed by Kálmán Kandó in Hungary, who used 16 kV AC at 50 Hz, asynchronous traction, and an adjustable number of poles. The first electrified line for testing was Budapest–Dunakeszi–Alag, the first fully electrified line was Budapest–Győr–Hegyeshalom. Although Kandós solution showed a way for the future, railway operators outside of Hungary showed a lack of interest in the design. The first railway to use system was completed in 1951 by SNCF between Aix-les-Bains and La Roche-sur-Foron in southern France, initially at 20 kV but converted to 25 kV in 1953. The main reason why electrification at this voltage had not been used before was the lack of reliability of mercury-arc-type rectifiers that could fit on the train. This in turn related to the requirement to use DC series motors, until the early 1950s, mercury-arc rectifiers were difficult to operate even in ideal conditions and were therefore unsuitable for use in the railway industry. It was possible to use AC motors, but they did not have a characteristic for traction purposes. This was because control of speed is difficult without varying the frequency and this is why DC series motors were the best choice for traction purposes, as they can be controlled by voltage, and have an almost ideal torque vs speed characteristic. In the 1990s, high-speed trains began to use lighter, lower-maintenance three-phase AC induction motors. The N700 Shinkansen uses a converter to convert 25 kV single-phase AC to 1,520 V AC to 3,000 V DC to a maximum 2,300 V three-phase AC to run the motors. The system works in reverse for regenerative braking, the choice of 25 kV was related to the efficiency of power transmission as a function of voltage and cost, not based on a neat and tidy ratio of the supply voltage. For a given level, a higher voltage allows for a lower current. The Indian Traction Power uses a 25 kV autotransformer system to achieve greater than the 25 kV system. Supply, in terms, the supply for the electric trains run by the Indian Rail uses only two phases of the normal three-phase electric power supply. The usage of the two phases is a one, feeding a single phase transformer with the two phases instead of the conventional feeding of a phase and a neutral
13.
Narrow-gauge railway
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A narrow-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge narrower than the 1,435 mm of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow-gauge railways are between 600 mm and 1,067 mm, narrow-gauge railways also have specialized use in mines and other environments where a very small structure gauge makes a very small loading gauge necessary. Narrow-gauge railways also have general applications. Many narrow-gauge street tramways are used, particularly in Europe, where 1,000 mm metre gauge tramways are common, the earliest recorded railway is shown in the De re metallica of 1556, which shows a mine in Bohemia with a railway of about 2 ft gauge. During the 16th century, railways were mainly restricted to hand-pushed narrow-gauge lines in mines throughout Europe, during the 17th century, mine railways were extended to provide transportation above ground. These lines were industrial, connecting mines with nearby transportation points and these railways were usually built to the same narrow gauge as the mine railways from which they developed. The worlds first steam locomotive on rails, built in 1802 by Richard Trevithick for the Coalbrookdale Company, during the 1820s and 1830s, a number of industrial narrow-gauge railways in the United Kingdom used steam locomotives. In 1842, the first narrow-gauge steam locomotive outside the UK was built for the 1,100 mm gauge Antwerp-Ghent Railway in Belgium, historically, many narrow-gauge railways were built as part of specific industrial enterprises and were primarily industrial railways rather than general carriers. Some common uses for these industrial narrow-gauge railways were mining, logging, construction, tunnelling, quarrying, extensive narrow-gauge networks were constructed in many parts of the world for these purposes. For example, mountain logging operations in the 19th century often used narrow-gauge railways to transport logs from mill sites to market, significant sugarcane railways still operate in Cuba, Fiji, Java, the Philippines, and Queensland. Narrow-gauge railway equipment remains in use for the construction of tunnels. Extensive narrow-gauge railway systems served the front-line trenches of both sides in World War I and they were a short-lived military application, and after the end of the war, the surplus equipment from these created a small boom in narrow gauge railway building in Europe. Narrow-gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels. Narrow gauge is often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in civil engineering work can be substantial. It is also used in populated areas where the potential demand is too low for broader gauge railways to be economically viable. This is the case in some of Australia and most of Southern Africa, the use of such railways has almost vanished due to the capabilities of modern trucks. In many countries, narrow gauge railways were built as feeder or branch lines to feed traffic to more important standard gauge lines, the choice was often not between a narrow-gauge railway and a standard gauge one, but between a narrow-gauge railway and none at all. Some bulk commodities, such as coal, ore, and gravel, can be transshipped, but this still incurs time penalties
14.
Renfe Operadora
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The name Renfe is derived from that of the former Spanish National Railway Network, RENFE created on 24 January 1941 with the nationalisation of Spains railways. As per EU Directive 91/440, RENFE was divided into Renfe-Operadora, the Railway Sector Act,2003 separated the management, maintenance and construction of rail infrastructure from train operation. Renfe Operadora inherited the management model of the units of the old RENFE. However, control of some Cercanías services were transferred to Spains Autonomous communities, dirección General de Servicios de Larga Distancia, responsible for long-distance intercity and high-speed rail services. Dirección General de Servicios de Mercancías y Logística, responsible for freight services, the company operates some 12,000 km of railways,7,000 km of them electrified. The newer high-speed network has been built to the standard gauge of 1,435 mm in anticipation of its eventual connection to the rest of the European railway system. For this reason, the 1,435 mm gauge is generally termed European gauge in Spain, the Spanish high-speed system is called AVE. The logo incorporates a feature which resembles a bird, the high-speed lines are built to the standard European gauge. Construction of the rail line between Madrid and Seville began in 1988 and operation commenced in 1991. Train speed on the Seville line is 300 km/h, the second high-speed rail line was completed in 2007 with the inaugural service commencing at 06,00 on 20 February 2008. The operational speed on this route is 350 km/h, the greater part of the line was placed into service on 11 October 2003, with connection to Huesca from Zaragoza. The third high-speed line was opened in November 2005, followed by the spur from Córdoba to Málaga as far as Antequera in 2007. Another high-speed route from Madrid to Valladolid was opened in 2007, the line from Madrid to Valencia was opened in 2010, a line to Lisbon is being designed. Other lines operated by Renfe include Euromed, a line between Barcelona and Valencia. In addition to intercity transport, Renfe operates commuter train systems, known as Cercanías, in metropolitan areas, including Madrid. In some cities, Renfe shares the market with other railway operators. Renfe Operadora utilises the following rolling stock and commercial products inside of its two divisions, All classes are designated by three numbers, federación Castellano Manchega de Amigos del Ferrocarril Renfes official website
15.
Renfe Feve
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Renfe Feve is a division of state-owned Spanish railway company Renfe Operadora. It operates most of Spains 1,250 km of 1,000 mm metre gauge railway and this division of Renfe was previously a stand-alone company named FEVE. On 31 December 2012 the Spanish government simplified the organization of train companies merging Feve into Renfe, the rolling stock and the brand FEVE was transferred to Renfe and the infrastructures were transferred to Adif. FEVE was created in 1965, as a successor to the government-run organization EFE, the present status of FEVE, as a government-owned commercial company, dates from 1972. The new company continued to absorb independent railway lines, where the concession holders had been unable to be profitable. Most were converted to 1,000 mm metre gauge and this happened in Catalonia in 1978, in the Valencian Community in 1986, with a part of the Basque network in 1979, and with Majorcan Railways in 1994. That did not occur, however, in the Murcia region, the above-mentioned EFE also operated the local suburbano railway in the town of Madrid. This railway became part of the citys subway Metro de Madrid as its Line 10, on 31 December 2012 the company disappeared due to the merger of the narrow gauge network FEVE and the broad gauge network RENFE. The infrastructure was transferred to Adif and the stock was transferred to Renfe Operadora. The operation of the gauge network continued under the same conditions after the reorganization. Together they formed a large and strategically important system, which was why – unlike the other, FEVE operated 1,192 km of track, of which 316 km were electrified. Operated as a service, the carriages of the train are furnished with bedrooms, lounges and restaurants and voyages typically last eight days. FEVE also operated regional services from Ferrol to Hendaya. One of the longest regular FEVE service operated between Leon and Bilbao, FEVE also operated a range of cercanías or commuter services. The main commuter area is Cercanías Asturias, where the five line FEVE network was totally integrated with the RENFE lines. FEVEs rails transported approximately 460 million tonnes of each year. The products one may expect to see on board their goods trains include iron, steel and coal, fueling much of the countrys industry. EuskoTren and Metro Bilbao - in the Basque Country FGC - around Barcelona FGV - in the Valencian Community SFM - on the island of Majorca Metro de Madrid - on Madrid town
16.
Seville
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Seville is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the river Guadalquivir, the inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos or hispalenses, after the Roman name of the city, Hispalis. Its Old Town, with an area of 4 square kilometres, the Seville harbour, located about 80 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain. Seville is also the hottest major metropolitan area in the geographical Western Europe, Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis. It later became known as Ishbiliya after the Muslim conquest in 712, in 1519, Ferdinand Magellan departed from Seville for the first circumnavigation of the Earth. Spal is the oldest known name for Seville and it appears to have originated during the Phoenician colonisation of the Tartessian culture in south-western Iberia and, according to Manuel Pellicer Catalán, meant lowland in the Phoenician language. During Roman rule, the name was Latinised as Hispalis, nO8DO is the official motto of Seville. It is popularly believed to be a rebus signifying the Spanish No me ha dejado, meaning It has not abandoned me, the eight in the middle represents a madeja, or skein of wool. The emblem is present on the flag and features on city property such as manhole covers. Seville is approximately 2,200 years old, the passage of the various civilisations instrumental in its growth has left the city with a distinct personality, and a large and well-preserved historical centre. The city was known from Roman times as Hispalis, important archaeological remains also exist in the nearby towns of Santiponce and Carmona. The walls surrounding the city were built during the rule of Julius Caesar. Following Roman rule, there were successive conquests of the Roman province of Hispania Baetica by the Vandals, the Suebi, Seville was taken by the Moors, Muslims from North of Africa, during the conquest of Hispalis in 712. It was the capital for the kings of the Umayyad Caliphate, the Moorish urban influences continued and are present in contemporary Seville, for instance in the custom of decorating with herbaje and small fountains the courtyards of the houses. However, most buildings of the Moorish aesthetic actually belong to the Mudéjar style of Islamic art, developed under Christian rule and inspired by the Arabic style. Original Moorish buildings are the Patio del Yeso in the Alcázar, the city walls, in 1247, the Christian King Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon began the conquest of Andalusia. The decisive action took place in May 1248 when Ramon Bonifaz sailed up the Guadalquivir, the city surrendered on 23 November 1248. The citys development continued after the Castilian conquest in 1248, Public buildings constructed including churches, many of which were built in the Mudéjar style, and the Seville Cathedral, built during the 15th century with Gothic architecture
17.
Lleida
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Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression, the metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants. It is also the city of the Segrià comarca, as well as the largest city in the province. It had 137,387 inhabitants as of 2010, including the municipalities of Raimat. Lleida is one of the oldest towns in Catalonia, with recorded settlements dating back to the Bronze Age period, until the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the area served as a settlement for an Iberian people, the Ilergetes. The town became a municipality, named Ilerda, under the reign of Augustus and it was reconquered in 1149, after being ruled by the Moors for many centuries, who had conquered the town in the 8th century. In 1297, the University of Lleida was founded, becoming the third oldest in the whole of Spain, during the following centuries, the town was damaged by several wars such as the Reapers War in the 17th century and the Spanish Civil War in the 20th century. Since then, the city has been in a constant urban, commercial, in ancient times the city, named Iltrida and Ilerda, was the chief city of the Ilergetes, an Iberian tribe. Indíbil, king of the Ilergetes, and Mandoni, king of the Ausetanes, under the Romans, the city was incorporated into the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis, and was a place of considerable importance, historically as well as geographically. Its situation induced the legates of Pompey in Spain to make it the key of their defense against Caesar and it ended by the capitulation of Afranius and Petreius, who were conquered as much by Caesars generosity as by his strategy. In consequence of the battle, the Latin phrase Ilerdam videas is said to have used by people who wanted to cast bad luck on someone else. Under the Roman empire, Ilerda was a flourishing city. It had a stone bridge over the Sicoris. In the time of Ausonius the city had fallen into decay and it was part of Visigothic and Muslim Hispania until it was conquered from the Moors by Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona in 1149. It used to be the seat of a university, the oldest in the Crown of Aragon, until 1717. The University of Lleida is nowadays active again since 1991, during the Reapers War, Lleida was occupied by the French and rebel forces. In 1644 the city was conquered by the Spanish under D. Felipe da Silva, Lleida served as a key defense point for Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, and fell to the Insurgents, whose air forces bombed it extensively, in 1937 and 1938
18.
Barcelona
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Founded as a Roman city, in the Middle Ages Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. Barcelona has a cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre. Particularly renowned are the works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona, the city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and also many international sport tournaments. It is a cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe, 24th in the world. In 2008 it was the fourth most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union, in 2012 Barcelona had a GDP of $170 billion, it is leading Spain in both employment rate and GDP per capita change. In 2009 the city was ranked Europes third and one of the worlds most successful as a city brand, since 2011 Barcelona has been a leading smart city in Europe. During the Middle Ages, the city was known as Barchinona, Barçalona, Barchelonaa. Internationally, Barcelonas name is abbreviated to Barça. However, this refers only to FC Barcelona, the football club. The common abbreviated form used by locals is Barna, another common abbreviation is BCN, which is also the IATA airport code of the Barcelona-El Prat Airport. The city is referred to as the Ciutat Comtal in Catalan. The origin of the earliest settlement at the site of present-day Barcelona is unclear, the ruins of an early settlement have been excavated in the El Raval neighbourhood, including different tombs and dwellings dating to earlier than 5000 BC. The founding of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends, the first attributes the founding of the city to the mythological Hercules. In about 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a castrum centred on the Mons Taber, under the Romans, it was a colony with the surname of Faventia, or, in full, Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino or Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino. It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens, the city minted its own coins, some from the era of Galba survive. Some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have incorporated into the cathedral. The cathedral, also known as the Basilica La Seu, is said to have founded in 343
19.
Valladolid
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Valladolid is a city in Spain and the de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It has a population of 309,714 people, making it Spains 13th most populous municipality and its metropolitan area ranks 20th in Spain with a population of 414,244 people in 23 municipalities. The city is situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within five winegrowing regions, Ribera del Duero, Rueda, Toro, Tierra de León, Valladolid was originally settled in pre-Roman times by the Celtic Vaccaei people, and later the Romans themselves. It remained a settlement until being re-established by King Alfonso VI of Castile as a Lordship for the Count Pedro Ansúrez in 1072. The Catholic Monarchs, Isabel I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, married in Valladolid in 1469 and established it as the capital of the Kingdom of Castile and later of united Spain. Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid in 1506, while authors Francisco de Quevedo, the city was briefly the capital of Habsburg Spain under Phillip III between 1601 and 1606, before returning indefinitely to Madrid. The city then declined until the arrival of the railway in the 19th century, among the events that are held each year in the city there is Holy Week, Valladolid International Film Week, and the Theatre Festival and street arts. There is no evidence for the origin of the modern name of Valladolid. Another theory suggests that the name derives from the Arabic expression Ballad Al-Walid بلد الوليد, yet a third claims that it derives from Vallis Olivetum, meaning valley of the olives. In texts from the ages the town is called Vallisoletum, meaning sunny valley. The city is popularly called Pucela, a nickname whose origin is not clear. Another theory is that Pucela comes from the fact that Pozzolana cement was sold there, the Vaccaei was a Celtic tribe, the first people with stable presence on the sector of the middle valley of the River Duero documented in historical times. Remains of Celtiberian and of a Roman camp have been excavated near the city, the nucleus of the city was originally located in the area of the current San Miguel y el Rosarillo square, and was surrounded by a palisade. Archaeological proofs of the existence of three ancient lines of walls have been found, the area was captured from the Moors in the 10th century, and Valladolid was a village until King Alfonso VI of León and Castile donated it to Count Pedro Ansúrez in 1072. He built a palace for himself and his wife, Countess Eylo, the Collegiate of St. Mary, in 1469 Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon were married in the city, by the 15th century Valladolid was the residence of the kings of Castile. In 1506 Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid still convinced that he had reached the Indies in a house that is now a Museum dedicated to him and it was made the capital of the kingdom again between 1601 and 1606 by Philip III. The city was damaged by a flood of the rivers Pisuerga. Despite the damage to the old city by the 1960s economic boom, the Science Museum is next to the river Pisuerga
20.
Cuenca, Spain
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Cuenca is a city in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha in central Spain. It is the capital of the province of Cuenca, Cuenca is located across a steep spur, whose slopes descend into deep gorges of the Júcar and Huécar rivers. It is divided two separate settlements, the new city is situated south-west of the old one, which is divided by the Huécar course. The climate of Cuenca is the typical continental Mediterranean of Spains Meseta, winters are relatively cold, but summers are quite hot during the day with occasional cool nights. Spring and autumn seasons are short, with pleasant temperatures during the day, when the Iberian peninsula was part of the Roman Empire, there were several important settlements in the province, such as Segobriga, Ercavica and Gran Valeria. However, the place where Cuenca is located today was uninhabited at that time, Cuenca soon became an agricultural and textile manufacturing city, enjoying growing prosperity. Around the 12th century the Christians, living in northern Spain during the Muslim presence, Castile took over western and central areas of Spain, while Aragon enlarged along the Mediterranean area. The Muslim Kingdom, Al-Andalus, started to break into small provinces under Christian pressure, in 1076 it was besieged by Sancho Ramírez of Aragon, but not conquered. In 1080 King Yahya al-Qadir of Toledo lost his taifa, and his vizier signed in Cuenca a treaty with Alfonso VI of León, after Alfonsos defeat in the battle of Sagrajas, Cuenca was captured by the king of Seville, Al-Mutamid ibn Abbad. However, when his lands were attacked by the Almoravids, he sent his daughter-in-law Zaida to Alfonso, the first Christian troops entered the city in 1093. However, the Almoravids captured it in 1108 and their governor in the city declared independence in 1144, followed by the whole of Murcia the following year. In 1147 Muhammad ibn Mardanis was elected King of Cuenca, Murcia and Valencia and he had to defend his lands from the Almohad invasion until his death 1172, after which his son had to sign a pact of tributes with the newcomers. A 17-year-old Alfonso VIII of Castile tried to conquer the city, the citys commander, Abu Bakr, again sought the support of Yaqub Yusuf, but the latter was in Africa and did not send any help. The latter fell in October, putting an end to Arab domination in Cuenca, Alfonso VIII granted the city a title, and it was considered to be Muy noble y muy leal. It was given a set of laws, the Fuero, written in Latin, that ruled Cuencas citizens, the diocese of Cuenca was established in 1183, its second bishop was St. Julian of Cuenca, who became patron saint of the city. During the next few centuries Cuenca enjoyed prosperity, thanks to textile manufacturing, the cathedral started to be built at that time, in an Anglo-Norman style, with many French workers, since Alfonso VIIIs wife, Leonor de Plantagenet, was French. During the independence war against Napoleons troops the city suffered great destruction, the 20th century began with the collapse of the Giraldo cathedrals tower in 1902, which affected also the façade. It had to be rebuilt by Vicente Lámperez, with two new towers at both ends of the façade, which have remained unfinished without the upper part of them
21.
Valencia
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Its urban area extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of around 1. 5–1.6 million people. Valencia is Spains third largest metropolitan area, with a population ranging from 1.7 to 2.5 million, the Port of Valencia is the 5th busiest container port in Europe and the busiest container port on the Mediterranean Sea. The city is ranked at Gamma in the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, Valencia was founded as a Roman colony by the consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus in 138 BC, and called Valentia Edetanorum. In 1238 the Christian king James I of Aragon reconquered the city and divided the land among the nobles who helped him conquer it and he also created a new law for the city, the Furs of Valencia, which were extended to the rest of the Kingdom of Valencia. In the 18th century Philip V of Spain abolished the privileges as punishment to the kingdom of Valencia for aligning with the Habsburg side in the War of the Spanish Succession, Valencia was the capital of Spain when Joseph Bonaparte moved the Court there in the summer of 1812. It also served as capital between 1936 and 1937, during the Second Spanish Republic, the city is situated on the banks of the Turia, on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula, fronting the Gulf of Valencia on the Mediterranean Sea. Valencia is integrated into an area on the Costa del Azahar. Valencias main festival is the Falles, the traditional Spanish dish, paella, originated in Valencia. The original Latin name of the city was Valentia, meaning strength, or valour, the Roman historian Livy explains that the founding of Valentia in the 2nd century BC was due to the settling of the Roman soldiers who fought against an Iberian rebel, Viriatus. It is not clear if the term Balansiyya was reserved for the entire Taifa of Valencia or also designated the city, by gradual sound changes, Valentia /waˈlentia/ has become Valencia or in Castilian and València in Valencian. In Valencian, the grave accent <è> /ɛ/ contrasts with the acute accent <é> /e/—but the word València is an exception to this rule and it is spelled according to Catalan etymology, though its pronunciation is closer to Vulgar Latin. Valencia stands on the banks of the Turia River, located on the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, at its founding by the Romans, it stood on a river island in the Turia,6.4 km from the sea. The Albufera, a lagoon and estuary about 11 km south of the city, is one of the largest lakes in Spain. The City Council bought the lake from the Crown of Spain for 1,072,980 pesetas in 1911, in 1986, because of its cultural, historical, and ecological value, the Generalitat Valenciana declared it a natural park. Valencia has a Mediterranean climate with short, very mild winters and long, hot and its average annual temperature is 18.4 °C.23.0 °C during the day and 13.8 °C at night. In the coldest month – January, the temperature typically during the day ranges from 14 to 21 °C. In the warmest month – August, the temperature during the day typically ranges from 28–34 °C. Generally, similar temperatures to those experienced in the part of Europe in summer last about 8 months
22.
Trams in Europe
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Europe has an extensive number of tramway networks. Some of these networks have been upgraded to light rail standards, called Stadtbahn in Germany, premetros in Belgium, sneltram in the Netherlands, and fast trams in some other countries. All the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, excluding Lithuania, industrial freight use of city tram lines was a widespread practice until the 1960s but has since mostly disappeared. Another factor is a replacement of trams with trolleybuses as cities face a rapid increase in traffic. One of the exceptions is Warsaw, Poland, where the last trolleybus line was closed in the year 1995 due to maintenance costs. Czech ČKD Tatra and the Hungarian Ganz factories were notable manufacturers of trams, in recent decades, tram networks in countries including Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain and Portugal have grown considerably. The Netherlands, which makes extensive use of trams, has plans to expand tram services to two additional cities. Germany did not undergo the extensive tramway closure programmes that were carried out in other European countries, in some places, tram networks have been added or expanded through the introduction of hybrid tram-train or stadtbahn systems which may combine standard railway, on-street and underground operations. Notable examples include the systems in Cologne and Karlsruhe, in Frankfurt-am-Main, many tram lines were transferred to U-Bahn operation. However, the first British city to reintroduce on-street trams was Manchester, several other UK cities followed with their own modern tram systems, including Sheffield, Birmingham and Wolverhampton, London and Nottingham. Other tramway projects have not made it beyond the stage because of funding problems, for example Londons Cross River Tram and the Leeds Supertram. Paris reintroduced trams with line T1 in 1992, and many French cities have seen a revival, for example the Tramway de Grenoble. In Austria, Gmunden, Graz, Innsbruck, Linz and Vienna all have tramway systems, with 173.4 km of track, Viennas network is one of the largest in the world. The cars have been modernised over the years and many are now ultra low-floored. Many of the Austrian tramlines have been in constant operation since they were first opened, Vienna started with horse trams in 1865 and with electrification following in 1897. Graz had horse trams in 1878 and electric cars in 1898 while Linz goes back to 1880 with electrification in 1897, the Gmunden Tramway, only 2.3 km long, is currently one of the shortest in the world. With gradients of up to 9. 6%, it is one of the steepest and has become a popular tourist attraction. Innsbruck, which traditionally used second-hand trams from other cities, has replaced its whole fleet with 32 Bombardier low-floor cars
23.
Alicante
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It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 328,648, estimated as of 2015, including nearby municipalities, the Alicante conurbation had 452,462 residents. The population of the area was 757,085 as of 2014 estimates. The name of the city echoes the Arabic name Laqant or Al-Laqant, the area around Alicante has been inhabited for over 7000 years. The first tribes of hunter-gatherers moved down gradually from Central Europe between 5000 and 3000 BC, some of the earliest settlements were made on the slopes of Mount Benacantil. The town of Leuce Akra was then founded by Greek settlers from Marseille around 325/324 b. C, by the 3rd century BC, the rival armies of Carthage and Rome began to invade and fight for control of the Iberian Peninsula. The Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca established the settlement of Akra Leuka. Although the Carthaginians conquered much of the land around Alicante, the Romans would eventually rule Hispania Tarraconensis for over 700 years. By the 5th century AD, Rome was in decline and the Roman predecessor town of Alicante, however neither the Romans nor the Goths put up much resistance to the Arab conquest of Medina Laqant in the 8th century. The Moors ruled southern and eastern Spain until the 13th century Reconquista, Alicante was finally taken in 1246 by the Castilian king Alfonso X, but it passed soon and definitively to the Kingdom of Valencia in 1298 with King James II of Aragon. It gained the status of Royal Village with representation in the medieval Valencian Parliament and this act cost the region dearly, with so many skilled artisans and agricultural labourers gone, the feudal nobility found itself sliding into bankruptcy. The end of the 19th century witnessed a sharp recovery of the economy with increasing international trade. During the early 20th century, Alicante was a capital that enjoyed the benefit of Spains neutrality during World War I. The Rif War in the 1920s saw numerous alicantinos drafted to fight in the long, the political unrest of the late 1920s led to the victory of Republican candidates in local council elections throughout the country, and the abdication of King Alfonso XIII. The proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic was much celebrated in the city on 14 April 1931, the Spanish Civil War broke out on 17 July 1936. The late 1950s and early 1960s saw the onset of a transformation of the city by the tourist industry. New construction benefited the economy, as the development of the tourism sector also spawned new businesses such as restaurants, bars. When Franco died in 1975, his successor Juan Carlos I played his part as the symbol of the transition of Spain to a democratic constitutional monarchy
24.
Alicante Tram
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The Alicante Tram, trademarked as Alicante Metropolitan TRAM, operates in the Spanish city of Alicante and its surrounding area. Like other narrow gauge railways in the Valencian Community, it is run by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana and it was inaugurated on 15 August 2003 replacing narrow-gauge diesel trains between Alicante and El Campello. There has been a history of urban rail service in Alicante. The tram service began on 13 July 1893 and the network was expanding to Mutxamel, Elche and Crevillent. Since 1903 the trams were carried as well by the power of steam engine, the electrification of tram lines began in 1923. In 1920s and 30s the network was expanded throughout the city and was extensively used in 1940s. In 1950s, due to costs of electricity, trams were gradually losing the competition against growing automobile services. Thirty years later, on 13 March 1999 the trams were back with the inauguration of a route between Plaza del Mar and Albufereta that was extended to El Campello in 2003. The network comprises the lines, L1, limited-stop service from Alicante city centre to Benidorm. In Benidorm it connects with line L9 to Dénia, L2, from the city centre to the General Hospital of Alicante, the University of Alicante and San Vicente del Raspeig. L3, stopping service from Alicante to El Campello, L4, from the city centre to a loop in Playa de San Juan district. 4L, from Alicante port, discontinued 30 June 2013, Puerta del Mar through the site of the former FGV Railway station of La Marina to Sangueta, where it used to connect with Lines L1, L3, and L4. L9, from Benidorm along the coast to Dénia, stopping at other important tourist towns like Altea, services are subject to disruption due to engineering works as the line is prepared for electrification. Lines L1, L2, L3 and L4 share the city centre section between MARQ and the city centre Luceros station. The Mercado station on the segment was opened on 10 May 2007, the underground section has been constructed to continue westward to Estació Multimodal serving the Adif station. Line L2, using the underground stretch as lines L1, L3 and L4. There are plans to extend the tram-train service southwards to Alicante Airport, El Altet, Elche, Gran Alacant, Santa Pola, Guardamar, according to the local press it seems unlikely that any of these extensions will be built in the near future due to lack of funds. Underground stations ground stations overpasses and viaducts Tram Alicante official website Alacant On Rails - Blog about news, updates, and tram project projects in the city of Alicante
25.
Barcelona Metro
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The Barcelona Metro is an unofficial brand name for an extensive network of rapid transit electrified railway lines that run mostly underground in central Barcelona and into the citys suburbs. It is part of the public transport system of Barcelona. As of 2014, the network is operated by two companies, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya. It is made up of 12 lines, combining the lines owned by the two companies, two lines, L9 and L10 are being built at present, with both lines having different sections of each opened between 2009 and 2016. They are due to be completed in the near future, three lines on the network have opened as automatic train operation/driverless vehicle systems since 2009, Line 11, Line 9 and Line 10, in chronological order. The first rapid transit service in Barcelona was founded in 1863 by the private company Ferrocarril de Sarrià a Barcelona. Later this line evolved in what now is basically the current L6 metro service and this railway system, now part of the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya company, was later inspired by the London Underground naming style having long names for the lines. This third one was built between the Plaça de Catalunya and la Bordeta to link the city centre with the Plaça dEspanya and Montjuïc and these two later rapid transit companies contrasted with the first one in being inspired by the Métropolitain de Paris. Today the network consists of 12 lines managed by 2 different operators, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona, the major network, operated by TMB, consists of eight lines, numbered L1 to L5 and L9 to L11, covering 102.6 kilometres of route and 141 stations. FGC lines are numbered L6, L7, L8 and L12 and these lines, except all L12 and part of L7, share tracks with commuter rail lines. The Barcelona Metro lines do not have a name of their own but are referred to by their colour or by the number. Construction work is taking place currently on L9/L10, which run from Badalona and Santa Coloma de Gramenet to the Zona Franca district. The lines, which share a section between Bon Pastor and Torrassa, will be the longest automated metro line in Europe, at 47.8 kilometres. The project was approved in 2000 but has been challenged by some technical difficulties, the first section of Line 9 that runs between La Sagrera and Can Zam opened in 2009, and by June 2010 eleven new stations on the new Lines L9 and L10 had opened. As of February 2016, the 15-station,19. 6-kilometre south section of Line L9 between Zona Universitària and the airport opened, TMB rolling stock FGC rolling stock In addition to the one-way ticket there are a number of other tickets and cards. All of the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità transport cards are valid, fares can be found on this page. As of mid 2016, there are currently 180 operational stations in the Barcelona Metro, served by the 12 lines in current use, the average distance between stations is 650 metres. An overwhelming majority of stations in the network lack related buildings or structures aboveground, the official TMB metro indicator, a red rhombus with a M inside, remains unused by FGC lines, which use their company logo and a different rhombus-shaped logo inside stations
26.
Bilbao
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Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the province of Biscay and in the Basque Country as a whole. Bilbao is the tenth largest city in Spain, with a population of 345,141 As of 2015, Bilbao is also the main urban area in what is defined as the Greater Basque region. Bilbao is situated in the part of Spain, some 16 kilometres south of the Bay of Biscay, where the economic social development is located. Its main urban core is surrounded by two mountain ranges with an average elevation of 400 metres. This was due to its port activity based on the export of iron extracted from the Biscayan quarries, at the same time an extraordinary population explosion prompted the annexation of several adjacent municipalities. The official name of the town is Bilbao, as known in most languages of the world, there is no consensus among historians about the origin of the name. Generally accepted accounts state that prior to the 12th century the independent rulers of the territory, the symbols of their patrimony are the tower and church used in the shield of Bilbao to this day. One possible origin was suggested by the engineer Evaristo de Churruca and he said that it was a Basque custom to name a place after its location. For Bilbao this would be the result of the union of the Basque words for river and cove, the historian José Tussel Gómez argues that it is just a natural evolution of the Spanish words bello vado, beautiful river crossing. On the other hand, according to the writer Esteban Calle Iturrino, the first, where the present Casco Viejo is located, would be called billa, which means stacking in Basque, after the configuration of the buildings. The second, on the bank, where now Bilbao La Vieja is located, would be called vaho. From the union of these two derives the name Bilbao, which was written as Bilvao and Biluao, as documented in its municipal charter. An -ao ending is present in nearby Sestao and Ugao. Titles Bilbao holds the historic category of borough, with the titles of «Very noble and very loyal and it was the Catholic Monarchs who awarded the title «Noble borough» on 20 September 1475. Philip III of Spain, via a letter in 1603 awarded the borough the titles of «Very noble, after the Siege of Bilbao, during the First Carlist War, on 25 December 1836, the title of «Unbeaten» was added. Remains of an ancient settlement were found on the top of Mount Malmasín, burial sites were also found on Mounts Avril and Artxanda, dated 6,000 years old. Some authors identify the old settlement of Bilbao as Amanun Portus, cited by Pliny the Elder, or with Flaviobriga, ancient walls, which date from around the 11th century, have been discovered below the Church of San Antón. On 21 June 1511, Queen Joanna of Castile ordered the creation of the Consulate of Bilbao and this would become the most influential institution of the borough for centuries, and would claim jurisdiction over the estuary, improving its infrastructure
27.
Metro Bilbao
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Metro Bilbao is a rapid transit system serving the city of Bilbao and the region of Greater Bilbao. Its lines have a Y shape, with two lines that both banks of the Nervión river and then combine to form one line that ends in the south of Bilbao. The network of Metro Bilbao is connected with Euskotren Tranbia, Bilboko Aldiriak, Euskotren Trena, Feve, as of 2013, the Metro operates on 43.28 kilometers of route, with 42 stations with 80 accesses. It is the third largest Metro company in Spain by number of passengers carried behind the Madrid, on February 21,2007, the Basque Government announced a project for the construction of a third metro line, which in the future will be expanded to Bilbao Airport. Construction of the new line began in July 2008, on January 25,2008, the preliminary layout of lines four and five was published. At the same time, the University of the Basque Country requested the construction of Line 6 in order to connect Leioa and Getxo with Asua Valley going through the university campus. The section between the stations of San Inazio and Etxebarri is the same for Lines 2 and 1 with 10.39 kilometres, Bolueta Station Euskotren Trena, L1, L1d and L3 Bizkaibus, Lines A2610, A3613, A3621, A3622, A3918, A3928 and A3929. At the same time, Urbinaga Station was built with the intention of connecting lines C1 and C2 of Cercanías, however, these connection projects have not been finished as of 2011. Eventually the Urbinaga project was restarted in 2009 and that future intermodal station will also take advantage of the future Leioa-Urbinaga Tram. Its construction was expected to start at the end of 2009, the idea of building a metro system in the city of Bilbao is an old one. In the 1920s the citys council prepared a project to build a system in the neighbourhoods of Abando. Soon after, the crises and the Spanish Civil War put a definitive end to the project. In 1971 the government of Biscay, the Bilbao City Council, in 1976, five years later, the Biscay Transport Consortium was created. In that same year two proposals were created to start a service in 1985, the first of them is almost identical to the current network. A year later a project was created to build the metro, however lots of objections were raised against it, in 1985 the construction plans were altered and a new project was created. Finally in 1987 the Basque Government approved the plan to build, a metro system was deemed to be the best way to improve congestion problems in the evolving and regenerating city. The contract for the metro system in Bilbao was awarded to the architects Sir Norman Foster. The same year the first underground station was opened in Erandio, in 1989 construction began in the city centre, where the main Moyúa square was closed to pedestrians until 1997
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Euskotren Tranbia
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It began operations for the first time in Bilbao in 2002 and in Vitoria in 2008. It is one of the four commercial brands under which Basque Railways operates, the entire network, as the Euskotren Trena network, uses 1,000 mm narrow gauge rail tracks. Euskotren Tranbia operates the services, while Euskotren Trena operates the commuter rail networks, Euskotren Autobusa the bus services. In 2012 the commercial brand changed from Euskotran to Euskotren Tranbia with the word tranbia being Basque for tram, the first network, then named EuskoTran and later Euskotran started in Bilbao in 2002, after two years under construction, connecting the Bilbao-Atxuri Station with Uribitarte. The line was expanded to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the hospital of Basurto. The tramway of Vitoria-Gasteiz opened in 2008 and has a Y-shaped network, Euskotran Tranbia runs on a mixture of street track shared with other traffic, dedicated tracks and grass tracks. The stops of Bilbao-Atxuri Station, Ribera and Abando, all of them in Bilbao, do not have their own separate stop, except for Bilbao-Atxuri and Legibitzarra/Parlamento, the second one in the Vitoria network, all stops are unstaffed and rely on automated ticket machines. All the stations have displays and screens with the map, the current time and temperature. Due the low platforms, the access between them crossing the tracks by pedestrian level crossing. They are virtually level with the doors and are all wider than 2 m and this allows wheelchairs, prams, pushchairs and the elderly to board the tram easily with no steps. In street sections, the pavement is integrated with the tram stop, the Bilbao line has 14 stops, while the Vitoria one has 20. The Euskotren Tranbia networks serves the following stations, bilbaos tram uses both regular paper tickets than can be acquired in the automated machines in every stop, there are simple, daily and monthly tickets available. The ticket pricing is not based on zone-based rules, as theres a price for the whole network. The Creditrans is available in the whole network, in the future the smart electronic card Barik will be available for use as well. A simple ticket costs €1,40 or €0,70 as of 2012, vitorias tram uses both regular paper tickets and the electronic cards BAT, which also work for the TUVISA bus system. The TUVISA bus cards are also valid, the ticket pricing is not based on zone-based rules, as theres a unique price for the whole network. A simple ticket costs €1,25 or €0,66 as of 2012, Euskotren Tranbia operates with the Urbos series produced by the Basque company CAF. Each 25 m long tram can carry 192 people,50 of them seated, access to the trams is at platform level, making it easy for handicapped passengers to get on and off through the trams eight doors
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Granada
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Granada is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of four rivers, the Beiro, the Darro, the Genil and the Monachil. It sits at an elevation of 738 m above sea level, yet is only one hour by car from the Mediterranean coast. Nearby is the Sierra Nevada Ski Station, where the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1996 were held, about 3. 3% of the population did not hold Spanish citizenship, the largest number of these people coming from South America. Its nearest airport is Federico García Lorca Granada-Jaén Airport, the Alhambra, a Moorish citadel and palace, is in Granada. It is the most renowned building of the Andalusian Islamic historical legacy with its cultural attractions that make Granada a popular destination among the touristic cities of Spain. The Almohad influence on architecture is preserved in the Granada neighborhood called the Albaicín with its fine examples of Moorish. Granada is also well-known within Spain for the University of Granada which has about 80,000 students spread over five different campuses in the city, the pomegranate is the heraldic device of Granada. The region surrounding what today is Granada has been populated since at least 5500 BC and experienced Roman, the most ancient ruins found in the city belongs to an Iberian oppidum called Ilturir, in the region known as Bastetania. This oppidum eventually changed its name to Iliberri, and after the Roman conquest of Iberia, the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, starting in AD711, brought large parts of the Iberian Peninsula under Moorish control and established Al-Andalus. In the early 11th century, after a war that ended the Caliphate, the Berber, Zawi ben Ziri, established an independent kingdom for himself. Jewish people were established in another close to Illiberis, called Gárnata or Gárnata al-Yahūd. Granadas historical name in the Arabic language was غرناطة, the word Gárnata possibly means hill of strangers. Because the city was situated on a low plain and, as a result, difficult to protect from attacks, in a short time this town was transformed into one of the most important cities of Al-Andalus. By the end of the 11th century, the city had spread across the Darro to reach the hill of the future Alhambra, the Almoravids ruled Granada from 1090 and the Almohad dynasty from 1166. With the Reconquista in full swing after the conquest of Córdoba in 1236, according to some historians, Granada was a tributary state to the Kingdom of Castile since that year. It provided connections with Muslim and Arab trade centers, particularly for gold from sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb, the Nasrids also supplied troops from the Emirate and mercenaries from North Africa for service to Castile. Ibn Battuta, a traveler and an authentic historian, visited the Kingdom of Granada in 1350
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Granada Metro
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The Granada metro is a light metro line under construction in the city of Granada, Spain and its metropolitan area, and scheduled to open on 15 May 2017. Construction of the began in 2007. It crosses Granada and covers the towns of Albolote, Maracena and Armilla, with sections in central Granada. 17% of the 15. 9-kilometre line runs underground with the remainder overground, the metro was initially planned to open in early 2012, and by May 2011 the line was 73% completed. However, funding ran out as a result of the Spanish economic crisis, in 2012, the remaining funds were secured through a 260 million loan from the European Investment Bank. And the planned date of completion was moved to early 2014, however, further delays resulted in a shortfall in funding, which was only resolved on 1 July 2014. The metro is now scheduled to open on 15 May 2017, Granada metro Andalucía transport site Granada metro map on Google Maps First line route, Urbanrail. net
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Madrid Metro
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The Madrid Metro is a metro system serving the city of Madrid, capital of Spain. The system is the 7th longest metro in the world, having a length of 293 km. The Madrid Metro operates every day from 6 am until 1,30 am, a light rail system feeding the metro opened in 2007 called Metro Ligero. The Cercanias system works in conjunction with the metro servicing commuter train services to, some underground stations are large enough to hold public events, such as the three-day fitness festival in May 2011, which attracted 2,600 visitors. One station contains a 200-square-meter archaeological museum, the Madrid Metro has 1,698 escalators, the most of any system in the world. The first line of the Madrid metro opened on 17 October 1919 under the direction of the Compañía de Metro Alfonso XIII, the Madrid Metro is the first metro system in Spain and the second in the Spanish-speaking world after the Buenos Aires Underground. It was constructed in a section and the stations had 60 m platforms. The enlargement of this line and the construction of two others followed shortly after 1919, in 1924, traffic in Madrid switched from driving on the left, to driving on the right, but the lines of the Madrid Metro kept operating on the left hand side. In 1936, the network had three lines and a line between Opera and Norte railway station. All these stations served as air raid shelters during the Spanish Civil War, after the Civil war, the public works to extend the network went on little by little. In the 1960s, a railway was constructed between Plaza de España and Carabanchel, linked to lines 2 and 3. A fifth metro line was constructed as well with narrow section but 90 m platforms, shortly after opening the first section of line 5, the platforms in line 1 were enlarged from 60 to 90 m, closing Chamberí station since it was too close to Iglesia. Chamberí has been closed ever since and has recently opened as a museum. In the early 1970s, the network was expanded to cope with the influx of population. New lines were planned with large 115 m platforms, lines 4 and 5 were enlarged as well. In 1979, bad management led to a crisis, Works already started were finished during the 1980s and all remaining projects were abandoned. After all those projects,100 km of track had been completed. At the beginning of the 1990s, control of the network was transferred to a public enterprise, more large-scale expansion projects were carried out
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Murcia
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The population of the metropolitan area was 689,591 in 2010. It is located on the Segura River, in the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula, noted by a climate with hot summers, mild winters, and relatively low precipitation. Murcia was founded by the emir of Cordoba Abd ar-Rahman II in 825 with the name Mursiyah مرسية and nowadays is mainly a services city and a university town. The city, as the capital of the comarca Huerta de Murcia is called Europes orchard due to its agricultural tradition and its fruit, vegetable. Murcia is located near the center of a fertile plain known as the huerta of Murcia. The Segura River and its tributary, the Guadalentín, run through the area. The city has an elevation of 43 metres above sea level, the best known and most dominant aspect of the municipal areas landscape is the orchard. A large regional park, the Parque Regional de Carrascoy y el Valle, the Segura River crosses an alluvial plain, part of a Mediterranean pluvial system. The river crosses the city from west to east and its volumetric flow is mostly small but the river is known to produce occasional flooding, like those that inundated the capital in 1946,1948,1973 or 1989. The Segura was recognized as one of the most polluted rivers in Europe, the Segura rivers Valley is surrounded by two mountain ranges, the hills of Guadalupe, Espinardo, Cabezo de Torres, Esparragal and Monteagudo in the north and the Cordillera Sur in the south. The municipality itself is divided into southern and northern zones by a series of mountain ranges and these two zones are known as Field of Murcia and Orchard of Murcia. Near the plains center, the hill of Monteagudo protrudes dramatically. The 881. 86-square-kilometre territory of Murcias municipality is made up of 54 pedanías and 28 barrios, the barrios make up the 12. 86-square-kilometre the main urban portion of the city. The historic city center is approximately 3 square kilometres of the downtown portion of Murcia. Murcia has a hot semi-arid climate, given its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, it has mild winters and hot summers. It averages more than 320 days of sun per year, occasionally, Murcia has heavy rains where the precipitation for the entire year will fall over the course of a few days. In the coldest month, January, the temperature range is a high of 16.6 °C during the day. In the warmest month, August, the range goes from 34.2 °C during the day to 20.9 °C at night, temperatures almost always reach or exceed 40 °C on at least one or two days per year
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Palma, Majorca
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Palma is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of Majorca on the Bay of Palma. As of the 2009 census, the population of the city of Palma proper was 401,270, almost half of the total population of Majorca live in Palma. The Cabrera Archipelago, though separated from Palma proper, is administratively considered part of the municipality. Its airport, Son Sant Joan, serves over 22 million passengers each year, Palma was founded as a Roman camp upon the remains of a Talaiotic settlement. Though present-day Palma has no significant remains from this period, occasional archaeological finds are made in city centre excavations, between 902 and 1229, the city was under Islamic control. It remained the capital of the island and it was known as Medina Mayurqa, the arrival of the Moors in the Balearic Islands occurred at the beginning of the 8th century. During this period, the population developed an economy based on self-sufficiency and piracy, in 707, a Muslim fleet, under the command of Abd Allgaht ibn Musa, son of the governor of Ifriqiya, Musa ibn Nusayr, stopped off at the island. It appears that Abd Allah convinced the powers of the city to accept a peace treaty. This treaty was granted in exchange for a tax, respect for social, economic and political structures to the communities that subscribed to it, as well as the continuity of their religious beliefs. After 707, the city was inhabited by Christians who were nominally in allegiance to the sovereignty of the Umayyad Caliphate, yet who, de facto, enjoyed absolute autonomy. The city, being in Majorca, constituted an enclave between western Christian and Islamic territories, and this attracted and encouraged increased levels of piracy in the surrounding waters. For wide sectors of the population, the sacking of ships which passed through Balearic waters was a source of riches over the next fifteen decades. Eventually, continued piracy in the lead to a retaliation by Al-Andalus which launched a naval fleet against the city. The Islands were defended by the emperor Charlemagne in 799 from a Muslim pirate incursion, in 848, four years after the first Viking incursions had sacked the whole island, an attack from Córdoba forced the authorities to ratify the treaty to which the city had submitted in 707. As the city occupied an eccentric position regarding the commerce network established by the Moors in the western Mediterranean. While the Emirate of Córdoba reinforced its influence upon the Mediterranean, the consequence of this was the substitution of the submission treaty for the effective incorporation of the islands to the Islamic state. The incorporation of the city into the Emirate set the basis for a new society, commerce and manufacturing developed in a manner that was previously unknown
34.
Palma Metro
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Palma Metro is a light metro system in Palma, Majorca, Spain. In March 2013, an existing 8. 35-kilometre and nine station rail line was bundled in to the service as the systems M2 line. In 2014, the Palma Metro carried 1.17 million passengers, the metro opened on 25 April 2007. It runs from the city centre to University of the Balearic Islands, spanish authorities suspended operations on the line in September 2007 due to repeated flooding. Services restarted on 28 July 2008 after a 46% cost overrun, due to the short length of Line M1, the journey from the Intermodal to UIB can be done in less than 20 minutes. Trains run daily from 06,35 to 21,55, headways are every 15 minutes during peak hours, the establishment of this new line would pose no cost since it would utilize the existing infrastructure of CTMs already-operating three rail lines. Revenue service on the M2 line began on 13 March 2013, headways on the M2 line are generally 20 minutes throughout the day. Because the M2 line operates on rail shared with Majorcas three commuter lines, it doesnt qualify as a true metro standards line like the M1 line does. Media related to Palma de Mallorca Metro at Wikimedia Commons Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca TIB - Consorci de Transports de Mallorca Palma Metro at UrbanRail. net
35.
Parla
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Parla is a municipality of the Madrid Metropolitan Area, Spain. It is located in the part of the autonomous community, approximately 20 km from the capital. As of 2013, it has a population of 164,182, earliest evidence of human occupation includes stone tools made of Paleolithic chert, of the kind utilized by Stone Age people. Starting in approximately 200 CE, nomadic people from the coast began to settle the area, bringing their knowledge of metalworking, ranching, agriculture and these early settlers lived primarily along the Humanejos stream. During the 4th and 5th centuries, the ranks of the local populations swelled to include newly arrived Celtic tribes from central Europe, the Celts brought with them various advanced technologies that included ironworking and fired ceramics. The local population was sustained mostly by ranching and agriculture, independent local development was interrupted by the arrival of the Carthagineans and Romans, the latter of whom recorded the history of the pre-Roman villages of the area. Local Roman artifacts include a number of markers and coins. After the Battle of Guadalete, which signified the beginning of the Islamic conquest of Hispania, Parla, Parla once again appeared as an independent township during the Reconquista. The territory was part of the Alfoz of Madrid, a Spanish medieval territorial designation for the surrounding a village during the Reconquista. At the time, there were two villages in the area, Parla, to the north, and Humanejos to the south. Humanejos disappeared around the year 1650 and this document was later affirmed by King Peter of Castile on 7 December 1351. After the Peninsular War, Parla became home to a number of poor refugees from other localities. Around this time it achieves the status of township, the current mayor is José María Fraile, who was elected in 2008. The previous mayor, Tomás Gómez Franco, resigned from his post in October 2008 to accept the position of general of the PSOE. The majority of local politics involves three of the political parties, the Spanish Socialist Workers Party, the Popular Party. During the 2007 Spanish regional elections, the PSOE carried 74. 43% of the vote, in comparison, the Peoples Party carried only 16. 61% of the vote, while the IU carried 6. 15%. The other political parties were unable to obtain sufficient votes to gain representation on the town council, local elections take place every four years, and are held in conjunction with the autonomous elections of the Community of Madrid. The next elections will take place in the year 2011, the local government is divided into the following departments, The municipality of Parla covers an area of 24.43 km²
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Parla Tram
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The Madrid city of Parla has a circular tram which provides transportation within the city as well as to the rest of the metropolitan area. This network is standard gauge which facilitates compatibility and vehicle interchangeability with other lines built or planned in the Community of Madrid, the main shareholder of the company is Global Road with 85%, and CCM also a shareholder with 15%. This is a project promoted by the administration of Parla. Opened on May 6,2007, and September 8,2007 and it consists of a circular line of 15 stations with stops every 500 meters, a total length of 8.3 km. It connects the city center with new developments and points of interest in the city such as the Commissioner of Police, health and cultural centers, shopping centers. There is a connection with the station of Cercanías Madrid located in downtown Parla, along with the construction of the tram, there have been park and ride facilities built throughout the city to promote the use of public transport. It is planned to build two more lines, both also circular. The first service would PAU-5, located on the banks of the A-42, the second would serve the future developments of southern Parla and the hospital and the new commuter train station to be located in the south of the city. However, given the crisis facing the city there are many questions about the economic feasibility of extending the system. The ticket price is comparable to urban bus lines in the city, a regional travel pass of at least B2 zone is also valid. The maximum capacity is estimated at 220 people, being the amount as three buses. The model of the tram is the Alstom Citadis 302, still the same lines flowing in Trambaix and Trambesòs in Barcelona, by Tenerife Tram, the satisfaction rate in the survey conducted in 2012 was an 8.64 out of 10. Also the current alignment does not connect to key parts of the city such as La Laguna or the South Hospital, light rail Parla Transportation in Spain Tranvía de Parla S. A. Official Website Android App for Tranvía de Parla Route Map and stops on Google Maps
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Santa Cruz de Tenerife
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Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz, is a city and capital of the Canary Islands, the capital of Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and of the island of Tenerife. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 within its administrative limits, the urban zone of Santa Cruz extends beyond the city limits with a population of 507,306 and 538,000 within urban area. It is the second largest city in the Canary Islands and the city on the island of Tenerife. Santa Cruz is located in northeast quadrant of Tenerife, about 210 kilometres off the northwestern coast of Africa within the Atlantic Ocean, the distance to the nearest point of mainland Spain is about 1,300 kilometres. The port is of importance and is the communications hub between Europe, Africa and Americas, with cruise ships arriving from many nations. The city is the focus for domestic and inter-island communications in the Canary Islands, there are several faculties of the La Laguna University in Santa Cruz, including the Fine Arts School and the Naval Sciences Faculty. Its harbour is one of Spains busiest, it comprises three sectors and it is important for commercial and passenger traffic, as well as for being a major stopover for cruisers en route from Europe to the Caribbean. The city also has one of the worlds largest carnivals, the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife now aspires to become a World Heritage Site, and is the most important of Spain and the second largest in the world. The main landmarks of the city include the Auditorio de Tenerife, the Santa Cruz Towers, Santa Cruz de Tenerife hosts the first headquarters of the Center UNESCO in the Canary Islands. In 2012, the British newspaper The Guardian included Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the list of the five best places in the world to live, the area where Santa Cruz currently lies belonged to Menceyato Guanche Anaga, which was the most easterly of the island. The area was known to the Guanches, the first inhabitants of the island, the famous Mummy of San Andrés is one of the most important archaeological remains of the aboriginal past of the region. Besides caves with remains of mummified animals and stones with engravings ruprestres. This area belonged to the Menceyato de Anaga, one of nine in which the island was divided, later, it became one of the most important ports of the Atlantic and the Canary Islands, a status it retains to this day. This former fishermens village rose to prominence after a Volcano destroyed the port of Garachico in the 18th century, Santa Cruz became the major port on the Island. It first won its independence from La Laguna and, in the 19th century, was awarded the status of Capital of the Province of Canary Islands by King Ferdinand VII, between 1833 and 1927 Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the sole capital of the Canary Islands. In 1927 a Royal decree ordered that the status of city of the Canary Islands would be shared with Las Palmas in Gran Canaria. This arrangement remains in place today, as of 2012 the merger is no longer part of the political agenda. Santa Cruz is divided administratively into five districts, which in turn are subdivided into districts, in 1990, the population peaked above the 200,000 mark
38.
Seville Metro
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The Seville Metro is a 18-kilometre light metro network serving the city of Seville, Spain and its metropolitan area. The system is independent of any other rail or street traffic. All 22 stations were built with platform screen doors and it was the sixth Metro system to be built in Spain, after those in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao and Palma de Mallorca. Currently, it is the fifth biggest Metro company in Spain by number of passengers carried – it carried 14.45 million passengers in 2014. Line 2, Stops, Santa Clara, Polígono San Pablo, Alhóndiga, Plaza del Duque, Marqués de Paradas, El Tardón, Line 3, Stops, Heliópolis, San Bernardo, Menéndez y Pelayo, Recaredo, Macarena, Cartuja. The official reasons given were fear that historic buildings might be damaged, in 1999 a new metro project was started by the Seville Metro Corporation, founded by a former mayor of Seville. It was scheduled to be completed in 2006, but only began operation on 2 April 2009, the new project plans a network covering Seville and its metropolitan area formed by four lines, all of them, completely independent of other traffic. Line 1, West-South Character, Underground Stations,22 Length,18 km Start of the work, Late 2003 Completion of the work, April 2009 License holder, Grupo ACS, Grupo SyV, GEA21, AOPJA, CAF. The Seville Metro fleet consists of 17 articulated low-floor Urbos 2 light rail vehicles manufactured by CAF, the Urbos 2 LRVs are 31-metre long,2. 65-metre wide, and 3. 3-metre tall, with a total 6 doors on each side. Seating capacity per LRV vehicle is 192 passengers/vehicle, the Urbos 2 LRVs have air conditioning. LRVs are powered by a power supply at 750 Volts. Line 2, West-East Tipology, Underground Stops,18 Length,13.4 km. Number of trains, Start of the works, Late 2011 End of the works, Late 2017 License holder, Line 2, North-South Tipology, Underground Stops,17 Length,11.5 km. Number of trains, Start of the works, Late 2011 End of the works, Late 2017 License holder, Line 4, circular Tipology, Underground Stops,24 Length,17.7 km. Number of trains, Start of the works, Late 2011 End of the works, Late 2017 License holder, MetroCentro |MetroCentro, surface tram through the centre of Seville, Stops, Plaza Nueva, Archivo de Indias, San Fernando and Prado de San Sebastián. Length,2.7 kilometres Number of trains,7, Start of the works, Mid 2005. End of the works, Spring/Summer 2007 Aljarafe tram, MetroCentro Seville RENFE, operator of the commuter train system of Seville. Medium-capacity rail transport system Metro Sevilla – official website Seville Metro at UrbanRail. net
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MetroCentro (Seville)
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MetroCentro is a tram system serving the centre of the city Seville, in Andalusia, Spain. It began operating in October 2007, at the present time, the service consists of just five stops, Plaza Nueva, Archivo de Indias, Puerta de Jerez, Prado de San Sebastián and San Bernardo, as part of Phase I of the project. The service is expected to be extended to Santa Justa AVE station, including four new stops, San Francisco Javier, Eduardo Dato, Luis de Morales and this Phase II was due to start in late 2008. But this plan is now postponed, city council gave priority to extending the lines of the Seville Metro. The project works began in Mid-2005 and its first phase was completed by Autumn 2007 and it covers 1.4 km and is served by 7 Urbos trams, all of which were manufactured by the Spanish company Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles. From the start it was envisaged that part of the Metrocentro system should be able to run free using the overhead contact wire for power. The final system, which is now in use commenced from Holy Week 2011, the system uses advanced technology ACR fast charging batteries -developed and patented by the Spanish company CAF
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Metrovalencia
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Metrovalencia is a modern amalgamation of former FEVE narrow gauge diesel and electric operated suburban/regional railways. It is a suburban network that crosses the city of Valencia. It also has destinations on lines that make it closely resemble commuter trains. The unique system combines light railway, metro and several tram operations north of the Túria riverbed park with line 4, trains of lines 1,3,5 and 9 have automatic train operation in 25.3 kilometers of underground system. Tram lines 4,6 and 8 are operated by modern trams and this network consists of more than 156.4 kilometres of route, of which 27.3 kilometres is underground. The system authority Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana uses bilingual signage in Valencian, † Notes, In 1998, Line 2 was combined with Line 1, it became a separate branch again in 2015. Lines 7 to 9 were created in 2015 by splitting existing branch lines, the network includes five unmanned stations, Rocafort, Fuente del Jarro, Massarojos, Benaguasil 1 and Font de l´Almaguer. The 2011 figures had shown a 5% decline compared to 2010, on average 172,887 passengers a day used the service in 2012 with the busiest day being 18 March, the final day of the Fallas festival, when 482,960 passengers used the service. The fourth and fifth busiest stations were Túria, next to Valencias main bus station, with 2,035,521 and Facultats, serving the University of Valencia, the remaining stations in the top eight were Plaça de Espanya, Amistat and Mislata. The first two of these were located in areas near Valencia centre, while Mislata was the station for the satellite town of the same name. In 2014, the system carried 60,111,000 passengers, in 2015,60,686,589 passengers used the network, reversing a decline which had occurred in previous years. Line 2 went from València-Sud to Llíria, with trains terminating in Paterna. In May 1994 the tranvia line 4 opened, Valencia was the first city in Spain to use this mode of transport in the modern era. Originally, line 4 was 9.7 kilometres long and had 21 stations, one year later, in May 1995, line 3 was extended from El Palmaret in Alboraria to Alameda. The extension reused the older railway line Pont de Fusta-Rafelbunyol, of which part was scrapped, further alterations followed five years later. On 16 September 1998, line 2 was merged with line 1, half a year later, on 20 May 1999, line 3 was extended from Avinguda del Cid to Mislata-Almassil. In April 2003, the new line 5 was opened and this line took over the previous line 3 connection from Alameda to Torrent, together with a newly constructed branch from Alameda to Ayora 2.3 kilometres. One year later, the new line 5 was extended, together with line 1, from Torrent to Torrent Avinguda, on 3 October 2005, Bailén station was opened on line 5
Andorra – no
France – yes/no – break-of-gauge (1,668 mm (5 ft 5 21⁄32 in))/(1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)) (new high-speed line without any break-of-gauge)
Portugal – yes, same gauge
Morocco – no – proposed undersea tunnel. break-of-gauge (1,668 mm (5 ft 5 21⁄32 in))/(1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in))
Gibraltar – no (contested territory)
